Device for controlling the ground clearance of an airship and docking station for an airship integrating such a device

ABSTRACT

A device ( 500 ) for controlling the ground clearance of an airship ( 200 ), the airship being provided with two lateral anchoring points ( 212 ), said device comprising: a frame ( 502 ), on which a weight ( 504 ) is fixed; two (rigid) arms ( 506 ), each arm having one end, called proximal end, that is articulated on the frame and one end, called distal end; means for moving the distal end of each arm between a position, called retention position, in which each distal end is in contact with a lateral anchoring end of the airship that is said to be connected to said distal end, and a position, called unlocked position, in which there is no contact between the airship and the docking station; and means for detachably fixing, in the retaining position, the respective distal end of each arm on the associated respective lateral anchoring point.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a device for controlling the groundclearance of an airship.

The present invention relates to a docking station for an airship, inparticular for an airship with a rigid structure. It also relates to amethod for secure mooring of an airship, implementing this dockingstation, as well as an airship adapted for this secure mooring.

PRIOR ART

Several solutions have been devised to guarantee the ground clearance ofan airship moored by its nose cone and to prevent it from touching theground, such as that of a wheel placed under the rear nacelle of the USSLos Angeles or a weighted wheel fixed by cables on the back of Goodyearblimps. However, while preventing the airship from either ascending ordescending, these systems do not prevent the airship from departing inthe opposite direction.

Patent document FR 2 706 151 is also known, which discloses a landingand mooring device fitted to an airship. The device is not suitable forairships having no landing gear. Furthermore, the device does notprevent the airship from adopting a pitch-up attitude or from touchingthe ground with its empennage.

Document US1,749,065 discloses a system for docking an airship,comprising a mooring mast for the nose of the airship and severalcarriages guided on rails, each carriage comprising a pair of armsmovable between a horizontal position and a substantially verticalposition in which the ends of these movable arms can mechanically engagewith the airship. The carriages have bogies with wheels guided bylongitudinal or circular rails. The present invention relates to alanding gear for rigid airships and aims to provide ground clearance fora rigid airship moored from the front to a low or truncated mast. Whenmoored to a low mast, the airship must be able to turn around said mastwithout hitting the ground or slinging. The invention has the additionalobject of supporting the rear of the rigid airship and allowing it torotate about the mooring mast without damaging the structure of theairship while also limiting the angle of roll.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

One aim of the invention is in particular to address all or part of theaforementioned drawbacks.

According to a first aspect of the invention, proposed is a device forcontrolling the ground clearance of an airship (200) provided with twolateral anchoring points, said control device comprising:

-   a frame comprising a ground connection interface, on which a weight    (504) is fixed,-   two rigid arms, each of the arms having a so-called proximal end    articulated on the frame and a so-called distal end,-   a means for moving the distal end of each arm between a position,    called retention position, in which each distal end is in contact    with one of said lateral anchoring ends of the airship, said to be    associated with said distal end, and a position, called unlocked    position, in which there is no contact between the airship and the    device,-   means for detachably fixing, in the retention position, the    respective distal end of each arm on the associated respective    lateral anchoring point, characterized in that the ground connection    interface comprises wheels mounted on the frame and whose    orientation can be modified.

The wheels mounted on the frame can be idler wheels or wheels whoseorientation is controllable.

The means for bringing a distal end closer to an arm of the associatedlateral anchor may comprise a winch placed in the airship at saidassociated lateral anchor and a rope wound on said winch and passingthrough said associated lateral anchor and said distal end.

Each of the arms may have an A-shaped configuration formed by two mainbeams forming the lateral branches of the A, connected together at avertex and connected together by a third beam forming the horizontalbranch of the A, two proximal ends of an arm being arranged at thebottom of the two lateral branches of the A and articulated on the frame(502), the distal end of the arm being arranged at the vertex of the A,thus defining an axis of rotation of the arm on the frame in thedirection formed from both proximal ends.

The third beams of each of the arms can be fitted with wheels.

According to another aspect of the invention, proposed is a dockingstation for an airship equipped with a tapered anchoring point and twolateral anchoring points comprising:

-   a mooring mast provided with a receiver arranged to receive, or be    moored at, the tapered anchor of the airship,-   a clearance control device according to one of the preceding claims,    the distal end of each of the arms of which is arranged to be    removably fixed to each of said two lateral anchoring points.

The device according to the invention may comprise a ground connectioninterface arranged to describe an arc of a circle around the mooringmast when the tapered anchor of the airship is received in the receiverof said mooring mast and when each of the distal ends is attached to thelateral anchoring points of the airship.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, proposed is a methodfor securing the mooring of an airship equipped with a tapered anchoringpoint and two lateral anchoring points, on a site, implementing adocking station according to the invention, comprising the followingsteps:

-   mooring the bow of the airship to the mast of said station with    freedom of rotation of the airship about said mast,-   motorized displacement of the clearance control device according to    the invention to position itself under the tail of the airship    already moored,-   deploying both arms until reaching the lateral anchoring points, and-   fixing the distal ends of the two arms to the respective anchoring    points.

The method according to the invention may further comprise, prior to thestep of deploying the arms, a step for unwinding a cable from eachlateral anchoring point, one free end of which is provided to be fixedto a distal end of each arm, and in that the deploying step comprises astep for winding up said cables until the respective distal ends of twoarms mechanically engage in the respective lateral anchoring points.

The method according to the invention can further comprise a step fortilting the airship so that the tail of said airship rests on theclearance control device according to the invention. When the methodaccording to the invention is implemented in an airship provided with aballast system comprising a first ballast tank located at the front ofsaid airship and a second ballast tank located at the rear of saidairship, the tilting step comprises a step for transferring water fromsaid first forward ballast tank to said second aft ballast tank.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, proposed is an airshipcomprising a body provided with a nose and a provided with two lateralanchoring points arranged on either side of the body of said airship,adapted to be moored at the bow to a mooring mast and at the stern to adocking station according to the invention, characterized in that itfurther comprises motorized means for rolling up/unrolling two cables,one respective proximal end of which is connected to said motorizedmeans.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Other advantages and particularities of the invention will becomeapparent on reading the detailed description of implementations andembodiments, which are in no way limiting, with reference to theappended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a first embodiment of a docking station for anairship according to the invention,

FIG. 2 illustrates an airship ground clearance control device in adocking station of FIG. 1 .

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Since the embodiments described hereinafter are not limiting in nature,it is possible in particular to consider variants of the invention thatcomprise only a selection of the features that are described, providedthat this selection of features is sufficient to confer a technicaladvantage or to differentiate the invention from the prior art. Thisselection comprises at least one preferably functional feature withoutstructural details, or with only a portion of the structural details ifthis portion alone is sufficient to confer a technical advantage or todifferentiate the invention from the prior art.

In the figures, an element appearing in a plurality of figures retainsthe same reference.

Referring to FIG. 1 , there is described a system 1, according to anembodiment according to the invention, for mooring an airship 200 to adocking station 300 according to an embodiment of the invention, and aground or a track S, at the same time as the method implemented in thissystem.

In the example shown, the airship 200 comprises propulsion units 202,204.

The airship is also equipped with capacitors C1 and C2, formingballasts, and allowing modification of the stability and/or attitude ofthe airship 200 by filling or emptying the capacitors from a ballastcircuit 206.

In the longitudinal direction, the bow of the airship 200 is said to beforward while the stern of the airship is said to be aft. The airshipalso has a tapered anchoring point 206, arranged at its bow. The airshipcan also be equipped with a drum 208 arranged at the bow that winds orunwinds a mooring cable 210, having a free end, from or to the dockingstation 300.

The airship has a center of gravity G.

According to the embodiment, the airship 200 also has two lateralanchoring points 212, 214 (not shown in the figure) arranged in a planetransverse to the longitudinal direction of the airship located behindthe center of gravity G along the longitudinal direction, symmetricallyand on either side of its yaw axis. Only the port side anchoring point208 is shown in the figure.

The docking station 300 may in a known manner comprise a bow receiverdevice 400, also called a mooring mast, equipped with a base 402,possibly self-propelled, resting on the ground or the track S, and apylon 404 at the top of which a winch is arranged comprising a windingdrum 406 whose vertical axis is driven by a motor 408. The drum 406 isprovided with a slot 410 arranged to receive a free end of the mooringcable 210.

When the airship 200 is approaching the bow receiver device 400, thepilot initiates a mooring procedure. The winding drum 208 of the airshipis controlled in freewheel mode in order to release the unwinding cabletoward the ground. The free end of the cable is then inserted into thereceiving slot 410 of the drum 406. Once trapped in the receiving slot,the distance between the airship and the slot, therefore the ground S,is limited by the free cable length.

Conversely, during a take-off phase, the end of the mooring cable 210 isreleased, the drum 406 being controlled in freewheel mode while thewinding drum 208 winds up the released mooring cable.

The mooring system according to the invention can also be associatedwith a mechanical coupling system for coupling the airship to the bowreceiver device, as described in application WO2018/099870 incorporatedhere by reference.

In order to be able to stabilize the attitude of the airship, thedocking station 300 further comprises a ground clearance control device500, also called the aerostat tail receiving station. The groundclearance control device 500 has a frame 502 on which a weight 504 isfixed.

The device 500 further comprises two rigid arms 506, 508 (FIG. 2 ).

Each of the arms 506, 508, respectively, has the shape of an A, formedby two main beams 506 a and 506 b, respectively 508 a and 508 b, formingthe lateral branches of the A.

The two main beams 506 a and 506 b, 508 a and 508 b, respectively, areconnected together at a vertex 506 s, 508 s, respectively, and connectedtogether by a third beam 506 c, 508 c, respectively, forming thehorizontal branch of the A.

Each of the arms 506, 508, respectively, has two proximal ends 506 p 1,506 p 2, 508 p 1, 508 p 2, respectively, arranged at the bottom of thetwo lateral branches of the A and articulated on the frame (502), thedistal end of the arm being arranged at the vertex 506 s, 508 s,respectively, of the A, thus defining an axis of rotation of the arm onthe frame in the direction formed by the two proximal ends.

The device 500 further comprises a ground connection interface 510. Theconnection interface 510 comprises wheels 512 mounted on the frame 502whose orientation can be modified, for example so-called idler wheels,or controlled, for example mounted on a directional train.

In the example shown, the connection interface further comprises idlerwheels 506 r, 508 r, respectively, mounted on the third beam 506 c, 508c, respectively. Beam-mounted idler wheels are optional.

The device 500 further comprises a means of displacement (not shown) ofthe distal end 506 s, 508 s, respectively, of each of the arms 506, 508,respectively, toward the associated lateral anchor 212, 214 of theairship 200.

The displacement means may comprise two winches 216, 218 (not shown),each disposed in the airship 200 at a lateral anchor and a rope wound oneach of the winches and passing through the lateral anchor.

According to another possibility, it is planned to use a drone asdescribed in the aforementioned international application.

Thus, it is possible to control, from the airship 200, a means ofbringing the distal end of an arm toward the associated lateral anchorof the airship and of fixing a free end of the mooring cable to thedocking station or to the airship. The fixing can be done using acarabiner, or a Scharfenberg-type coupling system.

For the mooring phase, two cables can be released from the rear lateralanchors. A team on the ground fixes these cables at each end of theA-shaped frames of the undercarriage of the device according to theinvention.

The cables are then wound again on the winches 216, 218 to the mooringpoints by lifting both ends of the A-shaped frames until they reach themooring points and are locked in position.

The pilot can then implement another step specific to the inventioncomprising moving as much water as possible toward the aft ballasttanks, for example from capacitor C1 to capacitor C2, which allows theairship to rest on the rear undercarriage object of the invention. Thetrapping can then be considered complete and the airship can be left inthe wind with the tail resting on the rear undercarriage.

As will be readily understood, the invention is not limited to theexamples that have just been described, and numerous modifications maybe made to these examples without departing from the scope of theinvention. In addition, the various features, forms, variants, andembodiments of the invention may be grouped together in variouscombinations as long as they are not incompatible or mutually exclusive.

The airship could for example have more than three anchoring points,with for example a bow point and 3 or 4 lateral anchoring points.Consequently, the docking station could have more than two arms, forexample 3 or 4, or even have arms having a distal end attached to theairship at several points.

1. Device (500) for controlling the ground clearance of an airship (200)provided with two lateral anchoring points (212), said control devicecomprising: a frame (502) comprising a ground connection interface, onwhich a weight (504) is fixed, two rigid arms (506), each of the armshaving a so-called proximal end articulated on the frame and a so-calleddistal end, a means for moving the distal end of each arm between aposition, called retention position, in which each distal end is incontact with one of said lateral anchoring ends of the airship, said tobe associated with said distal end, and a position, called unlockedposition, in which there is no contact between the airship and thedevice, means for detachably fixing, in the retention position, therespective distal end of each arm on the associated respective lateralanchoring point,characterized in that the ground connection interfacecomprises wheels (512) mounted on the frame and whose orientation can bemodified.
 2. Device (500) according to the preceding claim,characterized in that the wheels (512) mounted on the frame are idlerwheels.
 3. Device (500) according to claim 1, characterized in that thewheels (512) mounted on the frame are wheels whose orientation iscontrollable.
 4. Device (500) according to one of the preceding claims,wherein the means for bringing a distal end (506 s, 508 s) closer to anarm of the associated lateral anchor comprise a winch placed in theairship at said associated lateral anchor and a rope wound on said winchand passing through said associated lateral anchor and said distal end.5. Device (500) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein eachof the arms (506, 508) has an A-shaped configuration formed by two mainbeams (506 a, 506 b) forming the lateral branches of the A, connectedtogether at a vertex (506 s, 508 s) and connected together by a thirdbeam (506 c, 508 c) forming the horizontal branch of the A, two proximalends (506 p 1, 506 p 2, 508 p 1, 508 p 2) of an arm being arranged atthe bottom of the two lateral branches of the A and articulated on theframe (502), the distal end of the arm being arranged at the vertex ofthe A, thus defining an axis of rotation of the arm on the frame in thedirection formed from both proximal ends.
 6. Device according to thepreceding claim, wherein the third beams (506 c, 508 c) of each of thearms (506, 508) are equipped with wheels (506 r, 508 r).
 7. Dockingstation (300) for an airship (200) equipped with a tapered anchoringpoint (206) and two lateral anchoring points (212) comprising: a mooringmast (400) provided with a receiver arranged to receive, or be mooredat, the tapered anchor of the airship, a clearance control device (500)according to one of the preceding claims, the distal end of each of thearms of which is arranged to be removably fixed to each of said twolateral anchoring points.
 8. Docking station according to the precedingclaim, wherein the device according to the invention comprises a groundconnection interface arranged to describe an arc of a circle around themooring mast when the tapered anchor of the airship is received in thereceiver of said mooring mast and when each of the distal ends isattached to the lateral anchoring points of the airship.
 9. Method forsecuring the mooring of an airship equipped with a tapered anchoringpoint and two lateral anchoring points, on a site, implementing adocking station according to the one of claims 7 or 8, comprising thefollowing steps: mooring the bow of the airship to the mast of saidstation with freedom of rotation of the airship about said mast,motorized displacement of the clearance control device according to theone of claims 1 to 6 to position itself under the tail of the airshipalready moored, deploying both arms until reaching the lateral anchoringpoints, and fixing the distal ends of the two arms to the respectiveanchoring points.
 10. Method according to claim 9, characterized in thatit further comprises, prior to the step of deploying the arms, a stepfor unwinding a cable from each lateral anchoring point, one free end ofwhich is provided to be fixed to a distal end of each arm, and in thatthe deploying step comprises a step for winding up said cables until therespective distal ends of two arms mechanically engage in the respectivelateral anchoring points.
 11. Method according to the preceding claim,characterized in that it further comprises a step for tilting theairship so that the tail of said airship rests on the clearance controldevice according to one of claims 1 to
 6. 12. Method according to thepreceding claim, implemented in an airship provided with a ballastsystem comprising a first ballast tank located at the front of saidairship and a second ballast tank located at the rear of said airship,characterized in that the tilting step comprises a step for transferringwater from said first forward ballast tank to said second aft ballasttank.
 13. Airship (200) comprising a body provided with a nose and aprovided with two lateral anchoring points (212) arranged on either sideof the body of said airship, adapted to be moored at the bow to amooring mast and at the stern to a docking station according to one ofclaims 7 or 8, characterized in that it further comprises motorizedmeans for rolling up/unrolling two cables, one respective proximal endof which is connected to said motorized means.